Hiddleston Confirms No Loki Appearance in 'Avengers: Age of Ultron'

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If you were hoping to see more of the breakout character of "Marvel's The Avengers" in the 2015 sequel, prepare to be disappointed.

The surprise appearance of Tom Hiddleston at the Marvel Studios panel at Comic-Con last month underscored even more just how well-loved the actor -- and his Marvel character, Loki -- was by fans. Watching a hall of 6,000 people chanting his name purely as the result of his appearance, it was clear that watching Hiddleston take on the Avengers again in 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron would be worth the wait.

There's only one problem, however: Hiddleston really isn't going to appear in the movie.

The actor echoed writer/director Joss Whedon's earlier statements while talking to Entertainment Weekly, effectively ending any hope that Whedon might have been joking when talking about Loki's absence from the sequel back in June -- or that his Comic-Con appearance would have provoked a last-minute change of heart, for that matter.

"I don’t think there’s anything else Loki could contribute to The Avengers, narratively," Hiddleston explained, adding that any appearance by the character in the second movie would run the risk of unnecessary repetition. "When I think of all the things I loved as a child, for example, Hans Gruber wasn’t in Die Hard 2. And in Indiana Jones, by the time he moved from the Lost Ark to the Temple of Doom, there was a whole new bad guy," Hiddleston said. "I think keeping it fresh and new is good for The Avengers even though it’s a shame for me."

That doesn't mean that Hiddleston is going to be restricted to comic convention appearances in the future, however; the actor says that he has "plenty to do" in October's Thor: The Dark World, saying that the movie will see "a new iteration of the character… another poker game for the god of mischief." And after that? Well, Avengers 3 has already been announced; isn't the final part of a trilogy the time when the villain from the first movie always makes a somewhat triumphant return…?